Diego Garcia, an island south of the Maldives occupied by the United States Navy, has been named as one of the many possibilities for where missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went.

Police are urgently investigating whether Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the pilot of the flight, had practiced landing at the runway on the island, which is long enough to land a Boeing 777.

Shah had a flight simulator at his home and was well-known in the pilot community for giving lessons on how to use simulators. He posted multiple videos on the subject on YouTube.

Shah had the remote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean programmed into his simulator, raising the possibility that the plane was headed there even if it didn’t land there.

Files that included locations such as Diego Garcia were deleted last month from the simulator, officials said in a news conference this week.

Malaysia’s defense minister Hishammuddin Hussein emphasized that Shah is considered innocent until proven guilty, referring to the speculation that Shah and/or his co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid hijacked the flight.

Shah’s family is cooperating with the investigation, Hussein said.

A satellite image of Diego Garcia. (NASA)

Diego Garcia is a footprint-shaped atoll that is about 1,970 nautical miles east of the coast of Tanzania in Africa, 967 nautical miles south-southwest of the southern tip of India, and 2,550 nautical miles west-northwest of the west coast of Australia.

The United States Navy operates a facility there that includes a military air base that helps support regional operations. There are two parallel runways that span 12,000 feet each.

Thousands of people were resettled from the island by the British government to allow the U.S. Navy to build a base there.

The island, named after 16th century Spanish explorer Diego Garcia de Moguer, gained some notoriety recently after it was reported that the United States detained suspected terrorists at its facilities on the island.

The investigation into whether Diego Garcia is in any way involved with the disappearance of MH370 comes as eyewitnesses in the Maldives reported a “low flying jumbo jet” on the day that the plane disappeared.

A number of countries have been involved with the extensive search for the aircraft, which initially focused on the area between Vietnam and Malaysia and near Malaysia but has since shifted to the Indian Ocean.

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has said that the missing
Malaysia Airlines plane was not picked up by any radar in the Maldives.

MNDF said in a statement issued tonight that search efforts are ongoing
in the Maldivian territory, and that based on information gathered thus
far, the plane was not picked up by any airport radar or military radar
in the Maldives.

Joint search efforts for MH370 are ongoing by military forces of 26 countries.

Local police have also initiated an investigation after it was reported
earlier today that people in Dhaalu Kudahuvadhoo (maldives) saw a “low flying jumbo
jet” on the morning of the disappearance of the flight.

Haveeru reported that the plane was flying so low that witnesses were
able to tell that it was “a white aircraft, with red stripes across
it”.a witness said he saw it so clearly that he could see the door of
the plane.yet we dont know if its MH370 or not might be or not

Brian NoneyaBiznizz

A lot of idiots are speculating, nothing more. What is confusing to me is that there is a way that a plane could disappear in this day and age, regardless of who’s piloting it. WTF happened to the technology that is supposed to exist making this impossible?